


Let's Compare Scars

by HollyBarberShop



Series: Swing Life Away [2]
Category: Assassin's Creed, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, I Don't Even Know, Pack Bonding, The pack goes camping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyBarberShop/pseuds/HollyBarberShop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The pack, along with Holly and Chris, go camping for a weekend of training. Friendly competition and the potential for some romance, what more could we ask for?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An aside from the first part in this series, neither of which are finished. Lexi is Holly's twin, and they call each other Luis and Howie, just fyi.
> 
> I don't even know what this is... Let me know if you like it and I'll work to come up with an ending!

**Holly**

            “Alright everyone! I decided to go with nicknames this year instead of last names, I thought it’d be more fun,” Stiles goes around the campfire handing out ‘team uniforms’ to each of us, but they really just seem to be various t-shirts and nike-pro shirts.

            He hands out the black ‘Team Werewolf” shirts with white righting first: Erica gets a half-zip that reads Hot Stuff on the back, number 69. Scott, Jackson, and Isaac get lacrosse pennies; Scott’s says Puppy #1 and Isaac says Puppy #2, with the numbers 11 and 14 underneath, and Jackson’s says Ex-Lizard with a number 17. Boyd gets a training tee with Giant on the back, number 43. Peter’s workout tee reads Old Dog, number 99. Derek gets a muscle tank that reads Sourwolf with the number 1. And Chris gets a rather tight looking V-neck, with the nickname Captain, number 2. _That is sure going to look good on him,_ I catch myself thinking. Stiles gets a big round of grumpy looks from the people holding their shirts. He simply smiles and turns to the rest of us.

           He starts to hand out the ‘Team Human’ shirts, all a navy blue with red lettering. His dad and Argent get the same shirts as Peter, theirs reading Sheriff and Boss Man, numbers 5 and 9. Danny gets another lacrosse penny, his saying Newbie with a number 6. The next one out of the box is his own, a regular tee with Red on the back, number 24. “Sorry,” he looks at me, “I stole your nickname.”

           “Ha,” I laugh back, “that’s alright, I never liked it anyways. Besides, I think it suits you more.”

           He reaches back in his box to pull out the rest. To Lydia and Allison he gives half-zips just like Erica’s with Fire Starter and Legolas on the back, numbers 11 and 17 to match their boyfriends. He pulls out the last one, mine, and hands it to me. It’s a half-zip like the other girls’, but mine has a hood. The name on the back reads Assassin, with the number 27. I smile up at Stiles, “its perfect, thanks!” I seem to be the only one that is pleased with my shirt. I think Stiles can tell cause he gives me that look of _I think I’m hilarious but they obviously don’t_ and we both crack up laughing.

           We sit around the fire for another hour or so before people start yawning. People slowly head to the restrooms to shower and get ready for bed. The tents had already been set up before dinner; a big boys’ tent for Stiles, Scott, Isaac, Jackson, Danny, and Boyd. The girls have their own tent for Lydia, Allison, and Erica. They invited me to stay with them—the parents also said there was space for me in the RV—but I set up a tent for myself; I’m just not comfortable enough with them yet. My tent is on the far side of the clearing, a little ways away from Derek and Chris’s tent.

           I take a shower and get ready with the other girls, chatting mindlessly about the boys and about tomorrow. It feels good, easy, like I might actually fit in with these people some time soon. As we’re walking back to the tents, my phone rings. A picture of Lexi in a bull hat flashes across my screen.

           “Hey Luis,” I answer, “what’s going on?” The girls wave to me as they head to their tent and I so and head to mine. Chris comes out of his tent when he hears my walk by, I point to my phone but smile at him. He stops a few feet away from me. “Yeah, I’m on that camping trip right now but I have my laptop with me,” I respond to Lexi, “Sure. Yeah, that works. Call me when I get on. Of course, I love you too.”

           “Hey,” Chris says as I slide my phone into the pockets of my sweatpants.

           “Hey,” I smile back at him. My stomach sinks as I look up at him; I might end up falling really hard for this guy, or wolf, whatever.

           “Who was on the phone?” His smile is entrancing.

           “My sister, Lexi. She needs some help on something for school so I was about to Skype with her.” I unzip my tent and pull out my backpack and a blanket, laying it out on the ground outside my tent. “Your welcome to stay, it shouldn’t take long.”

           “Sure,” he smiles. He sits down next to me on the blanket as I pull out my MacBook. I type in the keys to boot up my mobile Internet and sign in to Skype.

           I turn to Chris before Lexi can call me, “I warn you know. Lexi is sometimes a lot to handle, even over a computer.”

           “Ha okay, thanks. I think I’ll be alright though, you see the people I have to put up to,” he waves his hands at the other tents where I can here people laughing and getting ready for sleep. Most of the boys are wrestling around the campfire.

           “Ha your right,” I laugh at him. My computer beeps as Lexi calls me. I send one last smile at Chris before hitting answer. “Hey Luis! Long time no talk,” her face pops up on the screen and she’s sitting at her desk in her house.

           “Howie! I miss you!”

           “Ha I miss you too Luis. This is Chris,” I turn to computer to show a waving Chris to my twin.

           “Hi Chris! Your even cuter than I thought you’d be,” she winks at him.

           “Alright alright,” I blush. “Didn’t you need my help for something?”

           “Ha yeah, I did. So I have this extra credit for my history class. I only failed that one test…”

           “Ha yeah, I remember. You basically called me crying.”

           “Well its not my fault we can’t all be, like, history prodigies!”

           “Oh whatever, at least I agree to help you.”

           “Ok, well anyways. So my teacher gave my this list of ‘artifacts’ that I’m supposed to identify.”

           “Okay, that seems easy enough. Why do you need my help? Don’t you have access to Google?” I joke.

           “Yeah well, I know almost no German. Or Greek. And I know literally no Arabic. And the descriptions of the artifacts are in the language from the area of origin for the artifact. And I have no pictures of the thing, only two sentences of definition… so yeah, that’s why I need your help.”

           “Yeah well, that is understandable. I can’t promise to be much help though.”  
            “Yeah, whatever, this is ganna be easy for you. Its only six things.”

           I spend the next half hour translating Lexi’s definitions from German, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Old English into things she can actually search for and we work through the artifacts one by one. They end up being the Holy Grail, Escalaber, a hat of a famous general, an old musket, an old chest, and—

           “Wait really?”

           “What? Do you already know what this one is?” Lexi asks after I translate all of eight words in Italian.

           “Ha yeah, of course I do,” Lexi gives me a look like I’m crazy. “It’s the Apple of Eden.”

           “I have literally never heard of that before. Are you sure that’s the right answer? I have to get all of them right or I don’t get any credit. Do you want to finish the translation?”

           “Trust me Luis, I know exactly what that is.”

           “Okaaaay, your sure? How?”

           “It’s an Assassin thing.”

           “Ha ok, I’m ganna trust you on that one.” Lexi stretches her hands behind her back, letting out a groan. “Well thanks! I’m ganna go turn this in to my professor and then head out and meet Stephen for drinks before it gets too late. You are literally my life saver!”

           “Ha no, I’m your grade saver. Go have fun with Stephen, tell him I say hi.”

           “Will do, I love you. I’ll see you soon?”

           “Yeah, I’ll call you when I get back from camping and set up a time when I can come down and see you. I love you too.”

           “Bye!” Lexi ends the call and I sigh, shutting my computer. I almost forgot Chris was there until I look over and see him lying on his back, looking up at the stars.

           “Hey, sorry about that. I didn’t know it would take that long.”

           He looks over at me and raises an eyebrow, “don’t worry about it. It was an interesting conversation.” He sits back up—without using his arms to help him out, I notice—and turns to me, “I didn’t know you knew that many languages.”

           I look down at my hands, “yeah well, just one of my many talents,” I smile at him.

           “Yeah, I’m starting to realize you have a lot of those,” he’s sitting close to me now, close enough for me to see the small freckles he has on his nose.

           I swallow, “not that many.”

           “I’m hoping that I can keep finding more,” his eyes look down at my lips and I lick them subconsciously. He smiles a small, private smile, as he leans his head in and brushes our lips together. Soft, just once, before he pulls back and opens his eyes, looking at me. I know he can hear my heart racing as he leans in again for a real kiss. This one is hard and greedy as he sinks into my lips. He licks into my mouth and I sigh into his, opening up for him. He pulls back after a minute and laughs. Breathlessly he says, “see? Another thing you seem to be good at.”

           I just look up at him, at a loss for words. What do you say after a kiss like that? I don’t think I could say anything even if I could catch my breath.

           Our solitude is broken by Derek yelling across the field in his ‘Alpha Voice,’ “Alright everyone! Get some sleep! Tomorrow’s ganna be a busy day so I want you all performing at your best. So cut the chatter and go to bed.” I hear the others grumbling as they climb into their respective tents; they all know better than to try to disobey Derek, he’ll be able to hear if any of us aren’t sleeping.

           “Alright well, I guess that goes for us too?” I don’t know much about the pack dynamics but I’m pretty sure Chris would get in trouble for not listening to Derek.

           “Yeah, it does,” he looks at me, disappointed. “We’ll just have to finish this tomorrow night?” He winks at me and I laugh. “Don’t worry, after tomorrow’s training we’ll all get to relax and have fun for the night.”

           “That sounds great, now go away. I have to go to bed!” I laugh at him as he gets gracefully to his feet and gives me a bow.

           “Goodnight, my lady.”

           “Ha, goodnight good sir.” Chris walks away laughing and I climb into my tent. I am nervous about what tomorrow will bring. I’m confused as to why I’m even here in the first place. This is supposed to be a pack-bonding trip but I’m definitely not pack. I’ve only known them for three weeks, and I’m not even sure they all like me. I zip up my sleeping bag, determined to get some answers tomorrow. But for right now, I follow the alpha’s orders.

 

 

           I hear the sounds of the camp walking up around me the next morning and I roll over, checking my phone. _Gahhhh, 7 in the morning!_ I think to myself, _no one should ever be awake this morning. And especially on a Saturday._ I suck it up and stretch my muscles as I get out of my tent.

           “Hey Holly,” Lydia calls from the entrance of their tent, “we’re about to go get ready if you want to help us claim the bathroom.”

           I nod and reach back into my tent to grab my bag. I follow the girls, who are surprisingly chatty for this early in the morning, to the camp bathrooms. I head for the showers and keep mine just warm enough to help me wake up enough without just making more sleepy. I towel myself off and start to get dressed as the other girls come out of their showers. Erica’s the only one who seems even a little bit as tired as I am. When I have my maroon tank top and green cargo pants on, I head out to the mirrors to finish getting ready.

           “So,” Allison starts, “are you guys ready for today?”

           “Not even a little bit,” Erica grumbles back, “Derek has a lot of stuff planned that is definitely not going to be easy.”

           “Speak for yourself,” Lydia sounds way too chipper for 7:30 in the morning, “I’m more than ready. I’m ganna kill it out there.”

           Allison looks at me, “um yeah,” I say. “I think so? I don’t really know what to expect.”

           “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

           I braid my hair in the mirror so I don’t have to look back at her. _Yeah, I’m sure I’ll do fine too. I just don’t know_ fine _I’m going to do._ I’ve been worried all night about making it seem like I’m showing off. I think a lot of these people underestimate me.

           “I love that braid!” Lydia chirps when I wrap a rubber band around the end of my hair.

           “Ha thanks, it’s the classic Katniss braid,” I laugh back.

           “Exactly! It looks so good!” Lydia really does grow on you.

           The other girls are lacing up their running shoes as I pull on my brown leather, almost to the knee, boots.

           “How do you even run in those?” Allison questions.

           “It’s the only thing I can run in,” I explain. “Their part of my uniform for the Creed and I’ve just gotten so used to them that sneakers just don’t feel the same.” After my boots are on, I strap my hidden blades to my wrists, putting both on for today.

“Those look deadly,” Erica watches as I flex my wrists.

           “Yeah, they can be, but don’t worry, it wouldn’t do much against you,” I laugh

           The girls laugh too as Erica grumples under her breath, “yeah well tell that to my broken arm three weeks ago,” and I actually feel like we might all be friends. It’s weird; I haven’t had friends like this in a long time.

           We all pull on our jerseys and look in the mirror.

           “These aren’t actually half bad,” Allison says, turning in the mirror.

           “No,” I respond, “I think they look good.” I finish by pulling my hood over my head—perfect. I follow the girls out of the bathroom and back to the camp. We giggle as we see the boys stare as we walk by. I think together we might actually look deadly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chris**

            I watch as Holly and the other girls approach the table where everyone is eating breakfast. I can’t get over how powerful she looks, like I wouldn’t break her. Like I _couldn’t_ break her. I know everyone else can tell how much she means to me after only a few weeks, but I can’t help it. I love everything about her.

            “Hey,” she says as she leans against the RV next to me instead of sitting at the table.

            “Hey, good morning.”

            “Ha, good would have been at 10 instead of 7.”

            “Ha sorry,” I hand her the mug of strong black tea I have in my hands, “this should help.”

            She takes the cup and inhales the steam. She looks up at me, questioning, “thanks. This is perfect.” It’s not my fault I remember what she likes to drink in the morning after we had coffee that one morning two weeks ago. We chat a little about the weather and about the others while those that are hungry eat breakfast. Holly even has a bowl of oatmeal even though I know she hates to eat in the mornings. Around 8 Derek stands up from the table and checks to see that everyone is full and ready, before he gestures for Stiles to start the day.

            “Thanks Der,” Stiles smiles at Derek. God, sometimes they make me sick. “Alright everyone! Lets get this show on the road, shall we? First up I thought we would just start the day off with a nice, simple game of capture the flag, wolves vs. humans. Each team gets a red bandana to hide, and the campsite is the neutral zone. Game begins in thirty minutes. Go.”

            I smile down at Holly before I run off with the other wolves to the north side of the camp. I hear her laugh as she jogs after her own team. _This is ganna be fun._

**Holly**

            The group breaks into the two teams and I follow the other humans to the south side of the clearing. Stiles leads us to a much smaller clearing about 100 yards into the forest and we circle up.

            “Alright team,” he addresses us. “I’ve already put all of our weapons over there,” he points to a big pile of bags and cases, “don’t worry, nothing that would actually hurt any of them. It’s just enough to slow them down. Go pick out what you want and I’ll tell you where you’re all going.” It’s clear that even though Derek is the alpha, Stiles’ orders are almost as powerful. I wonder how the power dynamics work with Chris being the head beta, but Stiles is the alpha’s mate. I put that out of my head for now and head to the weapons stash. I already have my blades but I put on a belt of throwing knifes and stuff rope darts into the pockets of my pants. I think about grabbing a bow but they all look bulky and advanced, nothing like the wood bow I am used to. I leave those for Alison and head back to Stiles.

            “Ok, so we all know they are quick, but, as always, they are going to be underestimating our speed. I want Dad and Argent to be covering the base at all times, they are our powerhouses and aren’t going to get passed them easily. Oh, here,” he hands all of us a headset. “The volume is turned down as low as they go, but the wolves will still be able to hear it, so if you’re trying to be sneaky, turn it off. Ok, so I want Alison and Lydia running the line, calling back to base when wolves get passed the lines.” They both nod in agreement and put in their earpieces. “Danny, you’re the distraction, I want you to have your headset all the way up and talk you way through the woods, but don’t be too obvious. We need to find their base so hopefully if you get in jail you can feed us back some information.”

            “Awesome, I love being bait,” Danny grumbles, “what are you ganna be doing? Why can’t you be bait?”

            “Me and Holly are going after the flag,” Stiles turns to me. “I saw you running in the trees the other day, so I think you’ll be quick enough. Also, as soon as I get passed the line, Derek will probably go after me. I’m counting on him and a beta or two guarding the base, so if I can draw Derek out, you can get in and get the flag.”

            “Genius,” I smile. This is going to work perfectly.

            Stiles looks down at his watch, “alright everyone, game starts in 10 minutes. Dad, go pick you base and hang the flag. We’re ganna head out to the line. Holly, when Danny goes across the line, head the same way but a little further away, get across the line and wait to see what Danny tells us. I’m ganna go on the West side.” We all head to the edge of the big clearing and wait for the game to begin.

            No less than 5 minutes later, we hear a chorus of howls coming from the other end of the forest. “Alright everyone,” Alison says, spinning an arrow in her hands, “time to have some fun.”

            I climb up the nearest tree as quickly and quietly as I can. By the looks on the others’ faces I guess I did a good job. I use branches to swing through the forest, following Danny underneath me.

            “Alright guys,” Danny’s voice crackles through the speaker, “I’m ganna head in. I still think this is a terrible idea.” I watch him turn towards the other side of the forest, trying to look sneaky without really trying.

            “Holly?” Stiles addresses me, “You still got an eye on him? Let us know who comes after him.”

            “You got it,” I track Danny’s movements and follow behind him slowly and quietly. “Looks like it’s Scott and Boyd. They’ve got his scent and are coming in from both sides.”

            “Oh hey guys!” I can hear Danny’s voice across the forest. They grab him and lead him back into the woods, and I follow behind as quietly as I can.

            “Erica and Jackson are making a break for it across the clearing,” Stiles announces from his viewpoint on the other side says.

            “We’ll pick them up when the cross the line,” Lydia responds. I look into the clearing in time to see an arrow hit both Erica and Jackson in the leg and Alison run out and tag them. “Sherriff, come get your prisoners.”

            “Good job girls,” Stiles laughs. “Alright Holly, lets do this. The quicker this game is over the quicker we can get some lunch.”

            “Ha good point Stiles, I’m going off the air now.” I turn my stereo off and look around me. I’m behind their lines, still following Danny’s escort through the trees. I see Peter in the distance, waiting for an opportunity to make his way across. I stop when I see the wolves ahead of me rest by a tree. Danny sits down so I assume that it’s their jail, but I don’t see the flag anywhere. I circle around them, looking for the flag guards as Scott and Boyd run off back to the line. I see Derek a couple hundred yards ahead of me, standing next to Chris. Well, its not a couple of Beta’s it’s the two biggest, badest wolves guarding the base. I hear Danny’s voice in the distance, probably relaying that same information. I notice when Derek lifts his head, catching Stiles scent. He must be closer than I am. Derek looks at Chris before loping off towards the other side of the wood. Now it’s just me and Chris. Game on.

  

**Chris**  

            Derek runs off after Stiles, and I shift my stance. If Stiles got close enough to draw Derek out, he must be working on a plan.  No way Stiles just gives himself up like that. I scent the air, but I can’t pick out anything strong enough to mean that someone’s getting close. The game has already lasted a little more than an hour. The other team must be about to make their move; they’ve separated all of us.

            The wind shifts and I pick up a scent. Its still weak, but I would know that scent anywhere. Holly’s close. So that’s their plan: send the assassin in to finish off the job. I crouch low, getting ready for her attack.

            Her laugh floats across the forest at me, “just you and me now Chris. Why don’t you tell me where the flag is and no one has to get hurt.” She’s joking and it gets me excited. We finally get to see what Holly can do today.

            “Why don’t you come and get it?” I laugh back.

            I hear the whistle of a knife and watch it land between my feet. I turn to the direction that it came from but I can’t see anything. Another knife flies through the air and sticks into the tree next to my head. Right next to the flag. I can’t see her but I can smell that she’s close.

            “Alright, we can do it that way.” She drops down from the trees gracefully, landing a few feet away from me on the balls of her feet. I crouch low and let out a low growl, a warning. “Oh come on Chris, just give me the flag and we can both walk out of here with our dignity.”

            “Not a chance,” I growl back. I smile breaks across her face as she charges me. she’s quick for a human, and I react to catch her but she drops down and slides to the side of me, kicking my feet out from under me. The kick had enough force to knock me to the ground, where I almost gracefully somersault and jump back up. I whirl around to see her roll back up to her feet and jump up the tree, grabbing at the flag. She pulls it down before I can even get to her. _Quick, that was an understatement._ I think, _she’s going to destroy all of us today if that was just her warm up._


	3. Chapter 3

**Holly**     

       Stiles and the other human cheer as I jog back over our line, holding the flag above my head and dragging a very grumpy Chris by the hand. The other wolves meet up with us and we all laugh about the game; no one is even a sore loser. Everyone congratulates me and gives Chris a good helping of shit, but he seems almost as proud of me as I am.

            After the game, we start running drills instead of just “goofing around” as Derek called it. But even the drills are fun and no one seems to take them too seriously. We do races across the field, and it turns out Stiles is the quickest human, even quicker than me, when he’s on flat ground and doesn’t trip over himself. The wolves still beat each and every one of us easily, but that’s ok. We work on climbing skills next and it’s another thing that I am the best at. Scott literally cannot get more than 10 feet up a tree without getting distracted and falling back down. No one gets hurt though because we all get spotters to catch us if, and when, we fall out of the trees. After that, it’s time to sit down for the lunch that Mrs. McCall made for us of chili and cornbread.

            We’re all laughing and telling stories around the over packed picnic table when I remember that I haven’t checked my phone all morning, whoops. I search my pockets before I remember that I left it on the end of the table at breakfast this morning. I turn to Chris, “hey, is my phone still on the end of the table?”

            He looks around the plates for a second before pulling out my iPhone, “yup, here.” He hands it to me. “Everything ok?” he asks when he notices my frown.

            “Yeah, perfect,” I say sarcastically. I have three missed calls from Dr. Miles and three more from Desmond. I think about ignoring it for a little while more when a call from Tage comes in. “Excuse me,” I say to the table, holding up my phone. I stand up and walk a few feet away from the table before answering, “Barber.”

            “Hey Holly, it’s Tage,” the voice of my good friend comes through. Tage and I went to middle school together and then both ended up in the Creed through very different circumstances. I didn’t even know he had joined until I was almost 19. Now we keep in touch fairly often and I consider him one of my best friends. We’ve talked less after he was assigned to be Dr. Miles’ assistant, a man that I barely get along with on a good day.

            “Hey Tage, what’s going on?” I already know this isn’t going to be a personal call, not with all those missed calls I have.

            “I’m not calling for fun,” see, told you, “sorry. I know we haven’t talked in a while but I’m calling on behalf of Dr. Miles.”

            I knew this was coming but I can still feel my heart speed up out of anger. Dr. Miles never calls for something good, and if he’s so desperate to talk to me that he needs Tage to call me, then it’s definitely not going to be good. I see Chris stand up in reaction to my heart rate, but I wave him back down. He offers me a small smile and I return it, hopefully reassuring him that everything’s ok. I know that he, and all the other wolves, will be able to hear both sides of this conversation, but I’m hoping Chris will be the only one actually interested enough to listen.

            “Awesome,” I say back into the phone, “what does he want?”

            “He wants to talk to you, he wouldn’t tell me what it was about,” Tage sounds sorry, and I know that he probably is.

            “Awesome,” I repeat, with a fair does of sarcasm, “just put him on. He’s not going to leave me alone until he talks to me anyway.”

            “Sorry Hol,” I hear Tage hand the phone over to Dr. Miles and then is dismissed.

            “Holly,” is the only greeting I get from the elder man.

            “Hey there Dr. Miles, what can I do for you?” Hopefully if I’m nice and considerate this call won’t take too long.

            “I was talking to Conner this morning about the situation with the Romulus you guys had the other day.”

            “Yes? And…”

            “He told me you disobeyed the orders I had given you all to wait for backup and went into their lair by yourself on Thursday.”

            “Yes? And…” I repeat. Those things did happen; I don’t really see the problem here.           

            “You disobeyed a direct order from a superior and went into a highly dangerous situation alone. That should not have happened.” Oh, there’s the problem.

            “Ok, first thing: it wasn’t dangerous. I told Conner that it was six men acting on their own. They had been banished from their brotherhood and were trying to find a way to get back in. I took care of them; they won’t be a problem anymore. And second: you’re not my superior.”

            He literally grumps at the phone, “not your superior? I am the head of the Creed in America; I am everyone’s superior. I don’t have to justify my orders to you and you do have to follow them.”

            “Dr. Miles, I mean no disrespect but I am not a part of the American Creed. I was trained and admitted in Italy, not here.”

            “That doesn’t matter Holly, while you are in this country you will listen to me.”

            “Actually sir, I will do no such thing. I get my orders directly from either Altaïr or Ezio. I don’t have to listen to anything you say. I listen to Conner on most things, but only because I value and respect him as a leader.”

            “Well I am above Conner!” Dr. Miles is getting angry now. I know he wanted to use the Romulus incident to pull rank over me and report me back to headquarters. “I don’t care where you get your orders, while you are in my territory you will listen to me!”

            “Ok, I was trying to be nice here, but you obviously aren’t getting the picture. I outrank you Dr. Miles,” I speak over he angry attempts at words, “I outrank everyone in this country. In fact, I outrank almost everyone in the Creed. I don’t know the last time you checked in on the proceedings at headquarters, but once Ezio is given complete control of the Creed after Altaïr’s resignation, I am to become his second. So, unless you want me to start exercising my power over your matters, you’d be best to simply let me do whatever it is I wish to do while I’m here.”  

            “I won’t stand for this! I’m not having some, overconfident _child_ who was not born into our order taking control of my sectors.” He’s practically screaming into the phone.

            “Well, get over it,” I’m done playing nice. “I’m not going anywhere. And by the way? I am not an overconfident child; I have worked my way through the ranks of this order through pure talent and determination, not birthright. Everything I have earned I have fought for, unlike you. I didn’t prey on the good name of my ancestors to elevate myself. And if you have a problem with any of this, you can bring it up with Ezio. He’ll be here in two weeks for a visit.”      

            Dr. Miles is silent. Before he can have time to think of a response I calmly say into the phone, “now, Dr. Miles, if we’re done here I have things to attend too. I hope you have a wonderful day, and next time? Don’t abuse your assistant’s friendship with me to get ahold of me, simply leave a message and I will get back to you when I see fit. Goodbye,” I say as I hang up the phone.

I’m fuming. I think about returning to the lunch table but the thought of sitting still makes me cringe. Instead. I walk to the tree line and start throwing knifes from my belt into the tree trunk in front of me as hard as I can. The resolute thump of my knife calms me. I hear Chris approaching and take another deep breath, settling down a little more.

“I guess it’s a good thing we’re doing target practice next?” He starts, looking at my 5 knifes all clustered together on the trunk.

That makes me laugh, I wasn’t expecting a joke, “ha yeah, it must be.” I look over at him, meeting his eyes. He smiles at me.     

“Everything ok? That phone call didn’t sound too fun.” 

“Ha, no. It really wasn’t. But yeah, I’m ok, just dealing with people I really don’t need to deal with.” I give him a reassuring smile, “really, everything’s fine.”

“Ha ok, I’ll take your word for it. Looks like we’re getting back to business over there, should we get back?” He holds out his hand.

“Absolutely," I grab his hand and pull him back towards the group.

 

**Chris**

            I wished I had a video camera to capture the look on Allison’s face when Holly beat her in the accuracy competition. The knife throwing was obviously going to go to Holly, what when we saw what she could do in the capture the flag game. But the big surprise was when we did the archery competition. Allison and her dad had brought a collection of compound bows, but when we were getting started Holly went back to her tent and pulled out an old fashion wooden bow. I raised my eyebrows at her when she returned with it, a quiver of arrows on her shoulders.

            “What? I like my bow.” She explains, “Ezio made this for me this two years ago. If it’s a competition then I want to use all the advantages I can.”

            I laugh at her but turn back to the competition. Its not much of a competition after the first round; Stiles, Derek, Jackson, Scott, Danny, Erica, Peter, and I are all out after none of us are even able to hit the target. After that it’s only Allison, the Sheriff, Argent, Lydia, and Holly are left. Then it’s not much of a challenge to hit the bulls-eye between them, so we switch to moving targets. We hang targets from the trees so those remaining can hit them as they swing in the wind. The first round of the new challenge eliminates both the Sheriff and Lydia, but they were close. Allison, Argent, and Holly all hit their targets dead center. A higher target proves to be too hard for Argent to hit with a bow, so only Holly and Alison go into the final round.

            I find it almost odd the comparison between old and new between the two girls. Alison is wearing top of the line workout gear, using a high-tech bow with the best arrows money can buy. Meanwhile, Holly is dressed in worn out boots and pants, the only new part of her outfit the jacket Stiles gave her yesterday, but it looks out of place. She already told me her bow was a hand crafted gift, and it looks like she makes each of her arrows herself. I’m surprised at how much I like this look; she looks comfortable in her clothes. She looks like she is sure of herself and that makes her all the more attractive. Her clothes are worn and her hair is messy, but I still think she is the most beautiful girl in the world. She looks up and catches me staring, and her smile almost knocks the breath out of me.

            Derek leans over and says low in my ear, “boy do you have it bad for her.”

            “What?” I try playing dumb, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

            “Please,” he smirks at me, “I can smell that puppy love smell all over you every time she smiles at me. You’re worse than Scott.”

            “Oh really? I wish you could smell yourself every time Stiles is around, you wouldn’t be giving me any shit if you could.”

            “Whatever,” he bristles. But I see his eyes travel to where Stiles is wrestling with Scott. He smiles, turning serious, “I never said it was a bad thing.”

            “Shut up,” I try to keep it from getting serious; I’m not ready to admit to myself how much I like her, let alone admit it to Derek.

            “If you find someone who makes you as happy as Stiles makes me, don’t let her go Chris.” I start to roll my eyes but Derek cuts me off with a look, “I’m serious Chris. Stiles is not only the best anchor I could ever ask for, but I feel stronger when I’m around him. All that mate stuff that we used to ignore when we were younger was true. If Holly is the one to do that for you, you have to tell her. You have to make sure she knows before she thinks about leaving again. If she knows how important you are, she won’t leave.”

            I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that, so instead I just bump my shoulder against his and turn my eyes back to Holly. They’ve just started the last competition and when Holly finishes in first place, Allison gives her the dirtiest look I have ever seen. I didn’t even know Allison was capable of that. I laugh and grab Holly around the waist, swinging her around. Her laugh is the best sound I have ever heard. If I could only hear that one sound for the rest of my life, I’d be ok.

**Holly**

            The day finishes up quickly and before I know it we’re cleaning up dinner. It is a bittersweet ending; I haven’t had a day that fun in a long time. But as I look at the faces of the people around me, I hope that, maybe, I’ll get the chance to be apart of a group that has great days all the time.

            We don’t have a campfire tonight because everyone is exhausted, both physically and mentally, and they just want to go to sleep. I take a shower and put on my favorite red flannel pajama pants and a black tank top and head back to my tent. I’m not really ready for bed yet so instead I put on my head lamp and open the book I brought, laying on my sleeping mat the wrong way so that my head is almost sticking out of the tent. I get lost in the romance of Darcy and Elizabeth—for the hundredth time, sue me, I love that book—and the next time I look up everyone is in their tents and the lights are all off. I turn back to my book but shortly I hear footsteps heading towards my tent. I look up to see Chris heading towards me across the campsite.

            “Hey,” I say quietly when he gets close.

            “Hey, I saw your light. What are you still doing up?”

            “Oh nothing special, just reading,” I hold up my book.

            He raises his eyebrows when he reads the cover, “gotta love the classics.”

            “Oh whatever,” I can’t tell if he’s making fun of me or joking, “I love this book.”

            “Ha don’t tell anyone, but I do too,” he’s definitely not making fun of me.

            “What are you doing up?” I question.

            “I got kicked out of my tent,” he looks at his feet and kicks the grass. I notice the sleeping bag in his hands.

            “What, why—“ I start but then look across to his tent and see Stiles slipping inside. “Oh, bummer,” I laugh at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then sexy times? I haven't written anything yet!!


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